Velo-Quebec says that in general, it's gotten a lot safer to be a cyclist on Quebec's roads over the years. In addition to having more protected bike lanes, dedicated signals and legal changes to give them safer opportunities to make it through dangerous spots like intersections, incidents of driver violence and road-rage have declined significantly.
However, the cycling advocacy group says they've been getting a 'bikelash' — as its program director Magali Bebronne puts it — on the web, in the months following the election of the Projet Montreal administration of mayor Valerie Plante in Montreal.
"You do hear things such as 'the all-powerful bike lobby', and that the municipal administration is 'catering to this minority'," she says, adding, "I think the reason why the [Plante Administration] is taking into consideration the needs of people on bikes is because they realize that a city [that] works for people on bikes works better for everyone."
She suggests that much of the online anger that motorists direct at cyclists comes from a lack of understanding, both of the dangers cyclists face on the roads and of the legal issues surrounding them.
"There's this misconception that cyclists are riding on roads that they're not paying for," she says.
That of course, is inaccurate. Whether you have a drivers licence or not, everyone's tax dollars support our road system.